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Vintage 1914 Postcard Valparaiso IN Parade STANDING ARMY:
$19.00
The “STANDING ARMY” wording is particularly interesting because the photograph was taken just after the outbreak of World War I in Europe. World War I began in July 1914, only weeks before this Labor Day celebration.
The phrase “Standing Army” was a significant political issue in the United States at the time. There was considerable debate over the size and role of the U.S. regular army versus state militias and citizen soldiers. So the float may have been making a political or labor-related statement, but the surviving evidence I’ve found isn’t enough to say exactly what the organizers intended.
